Woburn, MA (June 13, 2012) -- Batavia Bioservices, a service provider aiding its customers in the development of complex biological medicines, has decided to launch a US facility in Woburn, Massachusetts. The company is headquarted in Leiden, The Netherlands.

Menzo Havenga, President and CEO of Batavia, said: “We have been growing more than four hundred percent in the past two years in the Netherlands and to keep up with customer demand we have decided to launch a facility in the Boston area.” Christopher Yallop, COO, adds: “We have chosen the greater Boston area due to its importance as a biotech cluster. Positioning ourselves here allows us to be close to our customers, which we deem extremely important in delivering on time and on budget.” Batavia Bioservices provides a one-stop shop from DNA cloning to Phase I/II clinical manufacturing for all major classes of biopharmaceuticals, including antibodies, proteins or vaccines.

“Massachusetts leads the world in life sciences thanks to our growth strategy of investing in education, innovation and infrastructure,” said Governor Deval Patrick. “We welcome Batavia Bioservices, and we look forward to working with them to create jobs and opportunities in the Commonwealth.”

“We are excited to welcome Batavia Bioservices to the Massachusetts Life Sciences community,” said Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D., President & CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the agency charged with implementing Governor Patrick’s 10-year, $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative. “Batavia provides important services to the life sciences industry sectors, and the company's presence in Massachusetts will contribute to our economy, as well as strengthen our life sciences ecosystem. I am confident that the team at Batavia will find all of the resources and partners they need to thrive in Massachusetts.”

“Batavia Bioservices opening a lab facility in Woburn is a testament to the critical role Massachusetts plays in the global life sciences value chain.” said Ken Brown, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Office of International Trade & Investment. “I wish the company much success and look forward to their growing presence in the Commonwealth.”

The Woburn facility (± 5500 sq feet), located at Cummings Properties’ TradeCenter 128, contains multiple BSL-2 laboratories dedicated to specific tasks including Molecular Biology, mammalian cell line generation, protein production, protein purification or assay development. The company has already hired six employees for the new facility, with plans to hire four more by the end of this year. Joan Hilly, Director Cell Sciences, said: “It’s great that we have been able to quickly staff our facility with experts in their respective fields and in fact we have just started executing the first customer contracts on site!”

The announcement comes as the state is preparing to host the 2012 BIO International Convention, being held June 18-21 at the Massachusetts Convention & Exhibition Center. The Convention provides state and industry leaders an opportunity to showcase Massachusetts as a great place to do business for international life sciences companies.

“Batavia’s decision to grow in Massachusetts highlights the strength of the cluster here in the Commonwealth and the capacity for industry stakeholders to work together to get things done,” said Robert Coughlin, President & CEO of MassBio. “We’re thrilled to have such a cutting-edge, growing, global company join the Massachusetts supercluster.”

“The opening of a facility in Woburn by Batavia Bioservices shows that the Netherlands Life Sciences industry is continuing to spread its wings,” said Mr. Rob de Vos, Consul General of the Netherlands in New York. “In the Netherlands, Life Sciences clusters located in various bioscience parks that focus on translational research could develop due to a combination of high quality (clinical) research, strong public-private collaborations and a stimulating business climate. Batavia Bioservices is one of many innovative companies based in such a cluster (Bioscience Park in Leiden).”

“It has been a pleasure working with Batavia to meet its specialized laboratory needs,” said Dennis Clarke, Cummings Properties’ president and CEO. “The firm has a very promising future, and will find good company here at TradeCenter 128, where several other international firms have located their U.S. headquarters.”